Velvet Eden Solo/Demo Tapes
Alright, I've done the best I could...
Velvet Eden is a Japanese darkwave band with heavy visual emphasis which was formed in 1998 by Dada and Kalm.. Later Kalm left, but Dada chose to continue with the band anyhow. Enter Hora, Ryo, Abe, and Masahiro on their respective instruments, and Lem, Bera, and Mimi after them. There was also a support guitarist named Sayuki during the Kalm time, but he went to some other band afterwards. Eventually Hora left to form Schwartz Stein with Kaya. I swear he took that thing he use to wear on his eye and stuck it on his keyboard. Meanwhile something happened, a professional fallout, and Dada simply didn't show up for one of their lives so everyone else had to take turns singing the songs. After that, Bera announced that the band would be called "The Velvet" from then on. They had a new singer named Reina and released a CD, but were still kinda naked. They had another one, "Shounen," (Slut boys) ...... and then Reina was no more. Dunno what they're up to now, but their site's been taken down...perhaps they are no more.
The Original Velvet Eden:
Dada: Click Here
Afermath: Dada still lives just fine but doesn't seem to want to be contacted about VE. I have a feeling the fans gave him a hard time before. He's an artist, garage-kit maker, and anime choser of great talent, and a pretty awesome guy. He has been working with Dir en Grey (if anyone has seen the artwork in Kyo's book, that was him) and...cars....
Kalm: Keyboardist and songwriter for Velvet Eden from 1998-2000. He was in another band beforehand, Kalmia, but teamed up with Dada after "he hit on him outside Studio Alta." Dada, however, claimed he just wanted to feed beans to the pigeons and Kalm was the only thing there at the time. He seems to have a slightly biting, but amusing, sense of humor and is somewhat small and thin (and quite good looking in a way). As for his musical abilities, his songs are considered by many to have heralded the peak of Velvet Eden times. At lives he could often be seen pretending to play his keyboard or acting out one of the skits he and Dada would perform (for example, a fencing match). There are various rumors as to why he left Velvet Eden and mention of him joining another band called "Lurid Aqua," but none of these have been proven. After he left VE he performed in a live with Lucifer Lucious and then faded into the backwaters of vis kei history. For a while there was talk of him reforming a band with Dada, but that was just wishful thinking.
Aftermath: I talked to him back in 2005, and he had a normal, stable job, and seems to be doing well....He still writes songs for friends, etc, occasionally, and is currently composing songs for Kaya of ex Schwarz Stein, who incidentially also worked with/is still commissioning Hora. At some point he worked with a woman who had very good English pronunciation, and he doesn't seem to care about performing anymore.. He's very friendly and...normal. He also has a myspace under the name "seaofcat" (.....XD awesome) where you can go to sample his music~please see the CD section for a list of all of the things I know of that he composed.
The Second Generation~
*In case you hear the rumor, the branch manager of Moi Meme Moitie was someone called "Murasaki", who is not actually an ex-VE member. He just know them and the bandgirls or something.
R.Y.O: He played the bass, and was subsequently absent after the 3rd band reformation. Hora credited a man named R.Y.O as the guitarist on his CD, and in his diary entry said his "master," a perverted (or was it god-like? XD It's gone now, so I can't go check) man who helps him out with various things and whom he respects greatly, helped him out with guitar for the CD. So anyway, there is speculation that Hora's master and R.Y.O are one in the same.
Aftermath: He may or may not be in Shrine with Abe *see Abe's bio for details*
Hora: The only member still outwardly active. Also the
keyboardest and self proclaimed God who replaced Kalm. As far as I know,
he left the group claiming that "he tried out visual kei, but in the
end it wasn't for him and he ended up returning to his electronic/techno
roots." He has mentioned Soft Ballet several times as a major influence,
and owned all of the Malice CD's. For a while all anyone knew about him
was that he was "running around with that 'Hime' guy," otherwise
known as Kaya. Their friendship would later lead to the band "Rudolph
Steiner," and then the Midi Nette-produced "Schwarz Stein."
He is now carrying out a solo project to some extent, and has not mentioned
Velvet Eden since his departure, refering to it as "a band I use to
be in" and leaving it out of his website.
According to himself when he started his solo career, Hora was annoying
and mooched off everyone, and had a perchant for video games, sneakers with
air, figurines, cats, electronics, and Shimokitazawa. He was also, incidentially,
an anthology of useless trivia about Japanese popular culture and media,
from kogaru jargon to classic haiku. His personality was a little hard to
read on top of this, as he'd go from speaking in an extremely macho style
one minute to blubbering about how cute his cat (Kotarou, Kochan, Kocha,
etc etc etc he dresses him up as bunnies and stuff) was and how much he
loved Soft Ballet the next. He was plagued by hay fever and a certain horrible
fangirl who was me and liked people who get angry.
Now he's different, somehow. More grown up, more intuned with reality, a
little less cat obsessed....still a tad unusual (laughs), but...
Well, it's not up to me to say who another person is, especially someone
with whom I've never spoken.
All of Hora's bio is aftermath, so if you'd like to know more about him
please go to my subsite and read his diary entries, lyrics...send him a
fanletter...maybe not about Velvet Eden...
Site's called AIR HORA OTZ
Blood Type: AB
Birthday: 5.10
Abe (Abexx): The drummer of Velvet Eden after their post-Kalm reformation. I know nothing about him, save for that he wore fuzzy pink cow horns on his head.
Aftermath: He's still active in the music scene, and there have been various mentions of him being in a band here or there. The latest one is "We Are the Wa-rudo" (we are the world, we are the children~~~...or manjuu? *lol* eh...), a session band. He was also in Shrine though. For further explaination, please find his diary or something. He seems pleasantly normal.
Masahiro: The guitarist...Emirufish has speculated that
he may actually have been Bera, just with a different name. At any rate,
he was not there after the reformation in his old incarnation.
The Third Generation~
Bera: The guitarist who replaced Masahiro or was him. I don't particularly care, honestly. Of the bunch, the most popular at the time of the break up. He announced the name change after Dada walked out on the band.
Height: 179 cm, birthday: 8.18, smokes: JPS, movie: Clockwork Orange, pretty darn gay
Mimi: Basist who replaced R.Y.O. Said to be a sweety.
Height: 177 cm, birthday: 2.26, bloodtype: A, smokes: hates it, movie: good will hunting, foods: chocolate, croquettes (not the cream kind *editor note: they really are nasty*), favorite music: stuff that's timeless, favorite colors: black, black and red together, black and yellow together, white and black together
Lem: Drummer who replaced Abexx. Rumored to hate shoes.
really: ren, height: 177, birthday: 2.24, bloodtype: B, smoke: not really, if I do Oppai, performer: Beat Takeshi, food: rice, music: nature
(taken from the official THE VELVET web site: by then Reina was gone)